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“Roma Pride” is an international initiative under the umbrella of EGAM (European Grass-Root Antiracist Movement). This initiative targets the Roma communities in Europe to organize leading actions that would expose the pride of their origin and culture. At the same time, it attracts the public attention to the problems of one of the largest minorities in Europe. Roma Pride is a Europe-Wide event, coordinated by many organizations based in numerous countries working in the fields of human rights, anti-racism and anti-discrimination. 

VT FILM FEST is the first film festival based and produced locally in Veliko Tarnovo. The idea was to show a good selection of independent, high quality films from all around the world. From different fields and on various topics concerned with the fight against intolerance and discrimination. It was initiated by Amalipe Center for Interethnic Dialogue and Tolerance and VT Events. On its first year, the festival was dedicated to the “Roma Question“, and it was part of “Roma Pride 2012”. 

The films were shown from October 5 to October 7, 2012 in “Club Taralej”. The aim was to give the audience a diverse perspective about the lives of the Roma people – about their rich culture as well as the problems that the Roma people face in and out of their community-. The first day was dedicated to issues related to the interaction between Roma people, being the minority, and the non-Roma, being the majority. The second day was dedicated to domestic issues in the community, and the last one to the Roma traditions and customs. Films from Bulgaria, Czech Republic, France, and Germany were shown during the festival, including two Bulgarian premières: “The Forgotten Genocide – Europe's Gypsies in World War II” by Henriette Asséo, Idit Bloch and Juliette Jourdan and “I Am Going to Italy”, by Ivaylo Markov.

On the first evening of  VT FILM FEST the actors from the film “I am Going to Italy”, -which are indeed one of the best Roma bands in Bulgaria- Orchestra Karandila Junior, gave an outdoor concert for this occasion on the stage “Art Lyato”. The French Embassy sponsored the catering (as well as the production of the subtitles for “The Forgotten Genocide”). The night concluded with an after party with live music from Roma musicians in Da Da Bar.

The event was organized by CENTER AMALIPE and VT EVENTS. The festival could have not been possible without the great support of the directors, the film crews, Orchestra Karandila Junior,  ”Club Taralej“, Аrt Lyato, EGAM,  French Embassy, French Institute, The European Comission, Council of Europe, Мelon Live Music Club, Da Da Bar, and the whole team of volunteers working for the festival. Thank you very much!

“Roma Pride” was celebrated with flowers, children's drawings and typical arts and crafts from the Roma culture and the participation of successful Roma people.
From the 5^th to the 8^th  of  October, 2012, Center Amalipe’s Community Development Centers in Byala Slatina, Etropole, Peshtera, Novi Pazar, Kameno  and  the local clubs and centers in  Pavlikeni and Veliko Tarnovo held  a number of events  during the  celebration of  “Roma Pride” – The Day of The Roma Culture and Pride-. The campaign took place between 2 PM to 5:30 PM and took place under the motto: "I Have a Dream: To Learn and live Together!

In the Kaltinets neighborhood and Gorna Oryahovitsa municipality the event took place for first time. The local community enthusiastically prepared exhibitions and children were exited to help with the preparations. There were congratulatory speeches and welcome greetings were given from the representatives of the municipality of Gorna Oryahovitsa who were as well guests of the event Roma Pride. Various performances took place during the event: youngsters played the role of host and presented various Roma groups: Millet, Kaldarashi, Rudari, Burgudjii Tsotsomani / and exhibition of their traditional crafts. A recital of poems from the great Roma poet Usim Kerim was performed by the student Nicholay Benchev. Children from Kaltinets neighborhood sung traditional Bulgarian and Roma songs and performed dances. The dance program concluded with Krashno horo(Bulgarian traditional dance). The guests got a chance to see the set up stage of the great Roma Celebration Vasilitsa (the Roma’s New Year). Older women explained to the guests how they celebrate St. George's Day and how the group Burgudjiicelebrates traditional weddings. An exhibition of traditional costumes, scarfs, coats and slippers were shown as well. The guests saw Burgudzhiiski souvenirs made out of wire and cones which the Roma sell to make living. A photo exhibition showing traditional Bulgarian and Burgudzhiiyska weddings were part of the events as well. A small exibition of children’s paintings was put together under the motto "I Dream About…." At the ceremony the guests wrote on their palms messages of "My dream for Bulgaria…". Here are some of the messages: a middle-aged woman wrote, "My dream for Bulgaria is for Bulgaria to be the mother for all her children, regardless of ethnicity ". A young woman wrote," My dream for Bulgaria is to have jobs and bread for all of us ". The message of an elderly woman was:" God is one for all and let us love each other ". The student Nicholay Bentchev wrote:"Sunshine equally for all ".

The Roma pride day was celebrated with enthusiasm by all the people of the village of Vodolei,. Veliko Tarnovo municipality. The event started with the speech of the young activist of the local club, Liliana Andreeva. After a short debrief on the importance of today's event she welcomed all of the participants. Various activities took place: representation of "Henna" and traditional Roma wedding, Roma dance "Outplay the girls”, presentation of Bulgarian folk songs and dances, representation of the Roma tale "The Grandparents, The Pumpkin and Many Children", - written by a resident of Vodolei. A competition for best dancer took place as well. Attendees visited the exhibition of traditional Bulgarian, Turkish and Gypsy costumes, old objects and other crafts. 

The guest were pleasantly surprise with traditional pies and baklava. In the village of Ledenik, Veliko Tarnovo municipality, the guests saw a live performance of the traditional presentation of Kalaydzhiyska engagement and "Henna", traditional tinning crafts called kalaydzhyski, and live Bulgarian songs and dances. Under the guidance of moderators from the local club, Roma children recited poetry from famous Bulgarian poets - Hristo Botev, Ivan Vazov, Petko Slaveikov, Elin Pelin and Dora Gabe-. A traditional exhibition of Bulgarian costumes and old crafts were shown. Young activists from the local Roma club were dancing and singing "Chae shukarie", "Ushti, ushti! " Sae Rom"(traditional Roma songs). After the ceremony, guests enjoyed delicious  pies, cakes and pastries, prepared by the skillful hands of local women. The recipes were both from traditional Bulgarian and Roma cuisine. In Pavlikeni, residents of the city and surrounding towns saw a costume exhibition of Bulgarian and Rudarski traditional old objects , household items, which belonged to the founders of the town and now they were property of current residents. Guests enjoyed traditional Bulgarian dances, dances from the Vlach people and traditional belly dance performed by Roma youth. They treated guests with kaldarashko coffee.

In Novi Pazar the citizens enjoyed the exhibition of traditional objects and crafts that depicted the culture of various ethnic groups in the country. Roma women prepared traditional Turkish baklava and Bulgarian banitsa. Visitors learned about the vast amount about Roma crafts and traditional festivals. Roma children shared their dreams through drawings.
In Kameno an exhibition of traditional Roma crafts and household items such as spoons, spindles and more were shown. There were so many visitors in the yard of the Community Development Center, making the venue very crowded. Due to this, the event was transferred to the neighboring school yard to accommodate those who want to explore the exhibitions freely and see the beautiful costumes and hear songs and watch dances.
 In Peshtera, in addition to the exhibition of traditional costumes and objects, contemporary art items were exhibited as well. They were produced by the skillful hands of activists from the Community Development Center. An exposition of medals and pictures of the famous Roma choreographer  Makarinski Mancha, founder of Pechersk and Pazardzhik Dance Ensemble. Visitors also saw an exhibition of photographs showing the arts, sports and poetry achievements of the children in Peshtera.

In Byala Slatina, in addition to the exhibition "I Am Proud", -highlighting the Roma lifestyle and spirituality- students from local schools performed poems, songs, and fables telling different stories. The event was attended by Roma youths and university students. They told their personal stories to the younger students and tried to inspire them to study and to work hard so their dreams can come true. Elder women told stories of traditional holidays and how they celebrated them. Traditional metal and wood crafting were shown. In Etropole, for the second year in a row, guests admired the traditional objects on the exhibition. They also ate delicious polenta, prepared based on the traditional Rudarska recipe. Furthermore, they savored the exhibition of children's drawings titled "My Bulgaria – Our Bulgaria-"; work of arts were created by children from Etropole municipality.
Local government representatives, school, health services, kindergartens and social services representatives attended the events. In communities where the initiative is taking place for the second consecutive year, visitors said that the Day of the Roma culture is now part of the cultural program of the town and will be a great anticipation for the coming years.  Where the campaign was held for the first time, guests told us they would expect this even to become an annual occurrence. The initiative enjoyed equally great interest from Roma and from the Bulgarian, Vlach and Turkish local people. The campaign targeted young people, children, and the elderly.
Roma Pride was a day filled with lots of sun and smiles. Roma culture is part of the whole Bulgarian culture agenda. It has enriched and complemented our national culture by its brilliance and diversity.

On October 5^th, 2012 for the first time at Dolna Banya Roma Pride took place.  A contest for best drawings on the theme "Traditions and Holidays of The Roma Community in Dolna Banya" was organized.
The starting date for collecting the paintings was October 1^st, 2012. On October 5^th, 2012 in the gym of the school an exhibition of the paintings was shown and a jury awarded the most creative children. The initiative coincided with the International Day of The Teacher. The children who participated in the competition greeted enthusiastically all the teachers on their occasion.

Roma Pride in Radnevo
On October 5^th, 2012, at 11:00 o’clock in front of the city hall of Radnevo, Roma Pride was celebrated with a drawing competition titled "Roma Holidays and Customs". The participants of this contest were children from 1^st to 4^th grade  from three local elementary schools. Invitees to the event were: Dr. Ilchev – Mayor of Radnevo-, Dr. Ginev - Dep. Mayor-, Dr. T. Tenev-Vice. Mayor-, Mr D. Zhelev, – Chairman of the local parliament-, and municipality employees.

On October 5^th, 2012 at Community Centre "Evolution 1895", in the town of Strazhitsa the team TSRO Strazhitsa organized the exhibition of Roma crafts and customs to celebrate Roma Pride. The motto for this event was "I'm proud that I am Roma." The attendees to this even were the Deputy Mayor of Strazhitsa Mr. Yordan Dimitrov, councilors, municipal staff, principals and teachers of schools and kindergartens from the city. Children present at the event were exposed to Roma traditions through film and story-telling coordinated by the organizers of the event. Later on, the children drew cartoons and wrote messages of their impressions from the new things they learned. At the end of the event, people helped to clean the area and earned the title of "volunteer" to TSRO Strazhitsa.

ROMA PRIDE – At The Center for Community Development in Knezha

On October 8^th, 2012, Roma Pride was celebrated at The Community Development Center in Khneja. An exhibition of university diplomas of Roma people from the community was shown. It is the fact that the city of Knezha is proud to have the most "graduates" of the Roma population in a small town; which indeed was the motive for organizing this event and it was a focal point of the motto: "I'm Proud That I Am Roma."

On the exposition there were 17 diplomas and one certificate for higher education. Official guests were the Mayor of Knezha - Mr. Simeon Sharabanski-, Deputy. Mayor -Mr. perm Karadzhov-, President of The Association of Handicap and former municipality employee -Pavlina Yankova-, and founder of the Chess Club "V.Topalov" Slavin-Karadzhov-.